Imagine trying to tell identical twins apart just by looking at their fingerprints. That’s how challenging it can be for scientists to distinguish the tiny powdery pollen grains produced by fir, spruce and pine trees. But a new artificial intelligence system developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Nevada and Virginia Tech is making that task a lot easier—and potentially bringing big relief to allergy sufferers. “With more detailed data on which tree species are most allergenic and ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the United States, syphilis cases rose by nearly 80% between 2018 and 2023, with 209,253 cases reported in the latest year of data. The infection, which can be transmitted sexually or passed from mother to infant during birth, is curable but only if diagnosed quickly. Left untreated, syphilis can progress from painless lesions to brain and cardiovascular damage. Despite the first recorded outbreak of syphilis occurring more than 500 years ago — with some researchers theorizing that it has plagued humans for thousands of years — there still isn’t a way to quickly and reliably test for active ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After spending years tracing the origin and migration pattern of an unusual type of immune cell in mice, researchers have shown in a new study how activity of “good” microbes in the gut is linked to rheumatoid arthritis and, potentially, other autoimmune diseases. Scientists first reported in 2016 that specific gut microbes known as commensal bacteria, which cause no harm and often contribute to host health, set off production and release of a gut-originated T cell that drives up body-wide autoimmune disease in mice. Since then, the team has focused on explaining this unexpected twist in the typically harmonious ...

Washington, D.C. – May 1, 2025 – New clinical results from multiple studies show coronary heart disease death associated with tobacco use is anticipated to rise up to 40% in the next five years and people with cannabis use disorder are 50% more likely to experience cardiogenic shock, acute myocardial infarction, and arrhythmias. These studies were presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) 2025 Scientific Sessions. Tobacco and cannabis are two of the most used substances in ...

Urgent action must be taken to reduce the ever-rising number of people killed by extreme temperatures in India, say the authors of a new 19-year study which found that 20,000 people died from heatstroke in the last two decades.  Cold exposure claimed another 15,000 lives.    Findings published today in the peer-reviewed journal Temperature, also revealed that deaths from heatstroke are more common in men of working age and identified the states that are hotspots for deaths from heatstroke and from hypothermia and other conditions fuelled by the cold.    There is an upward moving, increasing trend ...

Psychotherapy assumed a larger role in outpatient mental health care while psychiatric medication without psychotherapy became less common, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The findings are published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.  “After years of American mental health care moving towards greater use of psychiatric medications, the pendulum has started swinging back towards psychotherapy,”  said Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, Columbia Mailman ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 2025 — The latest issues of three American Psychiatric Association journals (The American Journal of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services and Focus) are now available online. The May issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry brings together new research on diverse treatment strategies. Highlights of the issue include: Randomized Controlled Trial of Bounce Back Now, a Mobile Application to Reduce Post-Disaster Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress, Depressed Mood, and Sleep Disturbance. (Lead author Kenneth J. Ruggiero, Ph.D., is the guest on May's AJP Audio podcast episode, and AJP Deputy Editor Daniel Pine, M.D. highlights ...

More than 1,200 physicists from around the world will convene to present new research at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. The conference will be held in person only at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon June 16-20. Press registration News media with valid APS press credentials may register for the meeting at no cost. To request press credentials, visit APS’ online newsroom. Registration will remain open throughout the meeting. Housing information Discounted hotel rates are available at select hotels near the Oregon Convention Center. Book ...

A new approach to drug design can deliver medicine directly to the gut in mice at significantly lower doses than current inflammatory bowel disease treatments. The proof-of-concept study, published today in Science, introduced a mechanism called ‘GlycoCaging’ that releases medicine exclusively to the lower gut at doses up to 10 times lower than current therapies. “With this technique, we have the ability to deliver not just steroids, but a range of drugs including anti-microbial compounds directly to the gut, ...

A partnership announced in January between the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Arizona State University (ASU) includes a new prize for early-career scientists whose research focuses on societal impact. As of 1 May, this prize, developed with AAAS’s flagship peer-reviewed journal, Science, is open for submissions. The ASU-Science Prize for Transformational Research will be awarded to a researcher who uses new methods to identify problems and produce findings with impacts ...

North American bird populations are shrinking most rapidly in the very areas where they are still most abundant, according to a new study leveraging citizen science data for nearly 500 bird species. The findings reveal both urgent threats and potential opportunities for targeted conservation and recovery. Bird populations are experiencing steep declines globally, with North America losing more than 25% of all breeding birds since 1970. While long-term monitoring has revealed these troubling trends, effective conservation requires knowing where populations are declining most. However, this goal has been limited by the ...

In many countries, males are more likely than females to get sick and die from three common conditions, and less likely to get medical care, according to a new study by Angela Chang of the University of Southern Denmark, and colleagues, published May 1st in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine. Many health policies are the same for males and females, even though there is strong evidence that sex and gender can substantially influence a person’s health outcomes. In the new study, researchers gathered ...

Roses, long admired for their beauty and symbolic richness, owe their iconic petal shape to a mechanical process that has remained largely mysterious—until now. According to a new study, the pointed cusps that gradually form at the edge of rose petals as they grow are shaped not by the well-known mechanics behind wavy leaves, but by a distinct geometric frustration called Mainardi-Codazzi-Peterson (MCP) incompatibility. According to the findings, this stress-focusing phenomenon not only sculpts the rose’s form but also feeds back to influence how the petal grows, offering new insights into the mechanics of nature, and potential inspiration for the design of bio-inspired ...

New findings challenge assumptions about species’ ability to persist under climate change. Following a nine-year study of over 100,000 individual Drummond's rockcress plants – a common plant found in mountains across North America – researchers reveal that climate change is outpacing natural gene flow, threatening population survival even within a broadly distributed plant species’ native range. The findings highlight the potential role of assisted gene flow in plant conservation. Climate change is rapidly altering where ...

Researchers have found a new ally in the fight against a serious liver disease: a symbiotic gut-dwelling fungus that produces a molecule shown to be capable of reversing disease progression in mice. The findings may inform future therapeutic approaches to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a highly prevalent disease. Metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) now affects roughly one in four adults worldwide, making it the most prevalent chronic liver condition and a pressing global health issue. The more severe ...

ITHACA, N.Y. —A groundbreaking study published today in Science reveals that North American bird populations are declining most severely in areas where they should be thriving.  Researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology analyzed 36 million bird observations shared by birdwatchers to the Cornell Lab’s eBird program alongside multiple environmental variables derived from high-resolution satellite imagery for 495 bird species across North America from 2007 to 2021.  The team set out to develop reliable ...

The ‘cell of origin’ of the second most common lung cancer and the way that it becomes dominant in the lung have been discovered, in a new study in mice and humans from researchers at UCL, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in Science, found that a population of basal cells1 found in the trachea (windpipe) outcompetes other cell types and becomes dominant, eventually invading and occupying large areas of the lung. It is from these cells, ...

DETROIT – The number of people suffering from osteoarthritis is expected to top 1 billion by 2050. The biggest risk factor for the prevalent, often painful, chronic joint disease is aging. And like aging, there is currently no way to stop it. A discovery by scientists at Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences could pave the way for new breakthroughs in detecting and treating the disease. Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications. “Our hope is that this discovery will one day allow doctors to catch ...

Some public transit shelter designs can actually do more harm than good when it comes to shielding from summer temperatures, according to a study led by UTHealth Houston. The research was published in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. Public transit can be more affordable, healthy, and safe than commuting by car. Research supports that public transportation is also better for the environment by limiting emissions and air pollution. According to the American Public Transportation Association, more than two-thirds of transit users in the U.S. walk to the transit stop or station. However, during ...

WASHINGTON—A new expert opinion document jointly released by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) presents a comprehensive framework for using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Published in JSCAI, “Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography to Guide Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Expert Opinion from a SCAI/SCCT Roundtable” was developed through an October 2024 multidisciplinary roundtable, reflecting ...

Washington, D.C. – May 1, 2025 – New findings from multiple studies demonstrate that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), a class of medications used to treat type 2 diabetes, play a significant role in improving cardiovascular outcomes like heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), peripheral artery disease (PAD), and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The data were presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions ...

Washington, D.C. – May 1, 2025 – New data highlights juxtaposing trends in serious obesity-related cardiovascular events. A recent study details the obesity paradox in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI), demonstrating lower mortality in patients with obesity by 50% compared to non-obese patients. Whereas separate data suggests there is a rising mortality rate of almost four-fold in premature cardiac arrest and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with obesity, specifically in racial minorities and rural communities. The data were presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) 2025 ...

Santa Cruz, Calif.—Animal research on biomusicality, which looks at whether different species are capable of  behaving in ways that show they recognize aspects of music, including rhythm and beat, remains a tantalizing field at the intersection of biology and psychology. Now, the highly trained California sea lion at UC Santa Cruz who achieved global fame for her ability to bob her head to a beat is finally back: starring in a new study that shows her rhythm is just as precise—if not better—than humans. Ronan first shimmied onto the world stage in 2013, when researchers at the university’s Long Marine Laboratory reported that, not only ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The composition of bacterial populations living on our faces plays a significant role in the development of acne and other skin conditions such as eczema. Two species of bacteria predominate in most people, but how they interact with each other, and how those interactions may contribute to disease, has been difficult to study. MIT researchers have now revealed the dynamics of those interactions in more detail than previously possible, shedding light on when and how new bacterial strains emerge on the skin of the face. Their findings could help guide the development of new treatments for ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest a narrowing of racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of ERBB2 (formerly HER2 or HER2/neu)-targeted therapies over time among older Medicare beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer. Future research is needed to understand the practices that contributed to the narrowing of racial and ethnic disparities and to develop implementation strategies to effectively improve the quality and equity of breast cancer care. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Utibe R. Essien, MD, MPH, email uessien@mednet.ucla.edu. To access the embargoed ...